Before you cry buckets
over the poor, abused tots at Gitmo, let`s make one
thing clear: We are not talking about hordes of
peace-loving, cherubic grade-schoolers (like the kind
who were
freed from Saddam`s prisons by
American troops). We are talking about four male
juveniles captured as active
enemy combatants against U.S. forces—and suspected
of having links to the al-Qaida terrorist network or
Afghanistan`s ousted Taliban regime.

These “children” weren`t
playing Nintendo or lolling around in a sandbox when
they were taken into custody. They were at war, armed
and dangerous, carrying out
jihad.

One of the youths
reportedly in custody at Gitmo is 16-year-old
Omar Khadr, who as I
noted last week, is a suspected al Qaeda soldier
accused of lobbing the hand grenade that killed
Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer, a 28-year-old
medic with the U.S. Special Forces. At least one
eyewitness said Khadr was no confused little boy. He
knew exactly what he was doing: trying to kill
Americans.

But according to the
Amnesty International worldview, none of these little
munchkins is capable of cold-blooded acts of murder—and
none should be held culpable: They`ve been brainwashed.
They`re too young to be held responsible for their
behavior. They are emotionally and morally
underdeveloped.

Steven A. Drizin, an associate clinical professor of
law at Northwestern University School of Law, went so
far as to compare the “young, impressionable” Malvo to
kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart.

Virginia prosecutors
rejected the sob mob. And they have been vindicated.
Malvo behavior since his arrest has shown him to be
anything but a Little Boy Lost under the spell of his
accused partner, John Muhammad.

Left alone in an
interrogation room in late October,
Malvo attempted to escape from federal custody by
slipping off a handcuff, putting a chair on a table, and
climbing up through ceiling tiles.

Last week, Malvo was
charged with two jail violations after deputies
discovered a letter he wrote to another inmate that
contained a veiled threat toward a sheriff`s deputy. “That
`House Negro,` ” Malvo
wrote, “…Someone should ensure that boy is fatally
injured."

Court papers filed
recently describe Malvo as “rather boastful” in
admitting to killing a number of the
Beltway sniper victims. It was not Malvo who was the
sniper`s little aide, but apparently just the opposite
in many cases. Malvo described Muhammad as his “spotter
and helper." He calmly told authorities that “both
were equals and either could call a particular shot on
or off." Further
undermining the image of Malvo as clueless young puppet,
the Washington Post reported this week that Malvo
laughed as he described shooting FBI agent Linda
Franklin in the head at a northern Virginia Home Depot.
He
"smiled and chortled" as he recounted another
shooting involving a young boy victim. "His demeanor
was calm and relaxed," according to prosecutors.
"He never expressed or exhibited any fearfulness or
nervousness."

Cold-blooded killers and
blood-thirsty warriors come in all sizes—including
pint and junior. Here is what the blind advocates for
the “Boys” of Gitmo and “Boy” Malvo fail to grasp at
their peril: There is no age limit on evil.